Crafting Variant: Smelting (3.5e Variant Rule)

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Normally, when crafting an item, you gather raw materials equal to 1/3 the item’s market price, then make a series of Craft checks until your total meets the item’s Craft DC. This represents a week or more of labor to work and assemble the item in question. The precise pricing of building materials is left intentionally vague and, once crafted, an item cannot be further improved except by enchanting it.

The smelting variant system allows you to account for base materials, custom-craft items from those materials, and ultimately, improve them at the forge by smelting additional ingots onto the original frame. This variant rule system also has the advantage of giving DM’s an additional option for treasure; instead of a generic sword, adventurers might well find a rare ore that can be used to create a powerful new weapon down the road.

Note that this system is primarily useful for weapons and armor. No other items are accounted for in the rules presented but you could theoretically extend the system to utility items.

STEP ONE: GATHERING MATERIALS
Every item requires base materials. The following table presents prices, by item, for these.

CRAFTING MATERIALS (BY PRICE)
Material	Price	Material	Price	Material	Price
Rope	1 gp	Quilted Sheet	5 sp	Wood shaft	5 sp
Leather strips	5 sp	Leather sheet	1 gp	Wood plank	5 sp
Stone tile	5 sp	Iron/Steel ingot	1 gp	Gold1 ingot	10 gp
Limestone2 tile	5 gp	Mithral ingot	500 gp	Adamantine ingot	1000 gp

¹Gold: Gold has a hardness of 7 and 20 hp/inch of thickness. When enhancing items made with gold via the Craft Magic Arms And Armor feat, the enhancing time is halfed (1 day for each 2,000 gp in its magical features).
²Limestone: Limestone has the same hardness and hit points as stone. When enhancing items made with limestone via the Craft Psionic Arms And Armor feat, the enhancing time is halfed (1 day for each 2,000 gp in its magical features).

STEP TWO: CRAFTING THE ITEM
To craft an item, you must have the proper materials to follow the item’s creation formula as detailed on the table below. To craft the item, you make the check as normal. The item’s hardness and hit points are calculated based on the tile or ingot used in its’ crafting.

CRAFTING FORMULAS (BY ITEM)
SIMPLE WEAPONS
Item	Formula	Item	Formula	Item	Formula	Item	Formula
Gauntlet	1 tile/ingot	Dagger, punching	1/21 leather strip, 1/2 tile/ingot	Gauntlet, spiked	1+1/2 tile/ingot	Mace, light	1/2 leather strip, 1 tile/ingot
Sickle	1 leather strip, 1 tile/ingot	Mace, heavy	1 leather strip, 2 tile/ingot	Morningstar	1 leather strip, 1+1/2 tile/ingot	Shortspear, longspear, spear, javelin	1 wood shaft, 1/2 tile/ingot
Heavy crossbow	2 wood plank, 15 tile/ingot	Light crossbow	2 wood plank, 10 tile/ingot	Crossbow bolt	1/3 tile/ingot	Dart	1/6 tile/ingot
Sling bullets (10)	1/10 tile/ingot
MARTIAL WEAPONS
Item	Formula	Item	Formula	Item	Formula	Item	Formula
Axe, throwing	1 leather strip 1+1/2 tile/ingot	Hammer, light	1/2 leather strip, 1/4 tile/ingot	Handaxe	1 leather strip, 1+1/2 tile/ingot	Kukri	1 leather strip 1 tile/ingot
Pick, light	1 leather strip, 1 tile/ingot	Sap	1/3 tile/ingot	Short sword	2 leather strips, 2 tile/ingot	Battleaxe	2 leather strips, 2 tile/ingot
Flail	1 leather strip 2 tile/ingot	Longsword	2 leather strips, 4 tile/ingot	Pick, heavy	1 leather strip, 2 tile/ingot	Rapier	2 leather strips, 5 tile/ingot
Scimitar	2 leather strips, 4 tile/ingot	Trident	1 leather strip, 4+1/2 tile/ingot	Warhammer	2 leather strips, 3 tile/ingot	Falchion	2 leather strips, 24 tile/ingot
Glaive	1 leather strip, 2 tile/ingot	Greataxe	2 leather strips, 5 tile/ingot	Greatclub	1 leather strip, 1 tile/ingot	Flail, heavy	2 leather strips, 4 tile/ingot
Greatsword	2 leather strips 15 tile/ingot	Guisarme	2 leather strips, 2 tile/ingot	Halberd, Lance Ranseur	1 leather strip, 2 tile/ingot	Scythe	2 leather strips, 5 tile/ingot
Longbow	2 leather strips, 24 tile/ingot	Longbow, composite	4 leather strips, 28 tile/ingot	Shortbow	2 leather strips, 9 tile/ingot	Shortbow, composite	2 leather strips, 24 tile/ingot
Arrows (20)	1/2 wood plank, 1/4 tile/ingot
EXOTIC WEAPONS
Item	Formula	Item	Formula	Item	Formula	Item	Formula
Kama	1/4 leather strip, 1/4 tile/ingot	Nunchaku	1/2 wood plank, 1/4 tile/ingot	Sai	1/2 leather strip, 1/4 tile/ingot	Siangham	1 leather strip, 1/2 tile/ingot
Bastard sword	2 leather strips, 10 tile/ingot	Waraxe, dwarven	2 leather strips, 9 tile/ingot	Whip	1 leather strip, 1/2 tile/ingot	Axe, orc double	2 leather strips, 18 tile/ingot
Chain, spiked	8 tile/ingot	Flail, dire	4 leather strips, 28 tile/ingot	Hammer, gnome hooked	2 leather strips, 5 tile/ingot	Sword, two-bladed	6 leather strips, 30 tile/ingot
Urgosh, dwarven	4 leather strips, 14 tile/ingot	Bolas	1 rope, 1/2 tile/ingot	Crossbow, hand	4 leather strips, 28 tile/ingot	Crossbow, repeating heavy	12 leather strips, 112 tile/ingot
Crossbow repeating light	10 leather strips, 70 tile/ingot	Bolts, crossbow (5)	1 tile/ingot	Net	6 rope	Shuriken (5)	1/6 tile tile/ingot
LIGHT ARMOR
Item	Formula	Item	Formula	Item	Formula	Item	Formula
Padded armor	5 quilted sheets	Leather armor	3+1/2 leather sheets	Studded leather	5 leather sheets, 3 ingot	Chain shirt	33 ingot
MEDIUM ARMOR
Item	Formula	Item	Formula	Item	Formula	Item	Formula
Hide	5 leather sheets	Scale mail	16+1/2 ingot	Chainmail	50 ingot	Breastplate	33 leather sheets, 33 tile/ingot
HEAVY ARMOR
Item	Formula	Item	Formula	Item	Formula	Item	Formula
Splint mail	44 quilted sheets, 22 leather sheets, 22 tile/ingot	Banded mail	44 leather sheets, 41 tile/ingot	Half-plate	200 tile/ingot	Full plate	500 tile/ingot
SHIELDS
Item	Formula	Item	Formula	Item	Formula	Item	Formula
Buckler	2 leather strips, 4 tile/ingot	Shield, light wooden	2 wood planks	Shield, light steel	3 ingot	Shield, heavy wooden	2+1/3 wood planks
Shield, heavy steel	6+1/2 ingot	Shield, tower	10 ingot
ARMOR EXTRAS
Item	Formula	Item	Formula	Item	Formula	Item	Formula
Armor spikes	+16+1/2 tile/ingot	Gauntlet, locked	+2+1/2 tile/ingot	Shield spikes	+3+1/3 tile/ingot

¹Note that when a fraction of an item is used, you may salvage the rest provided you make the Craft DC on your first try, representing you being sparing with material as you crafted.

STEP THREE: IMPROVING WEAPONS AND ARMOR
Once weapons and armor have been made, they can be improved, if physically possible, by smelting additional ingots onto them. This can be done by taking the following feat.

SMELT ARMS AND ARMOR (ITEM CREATION)

You have learned to improve existing items by smelting ingots onto them.

Prerequisites: .Craft (weaponsmithing or armorsmithing) 6 ranks.

Benefits: You may make an additional Craft check of the appropriate type to improve weapons and armor. Smelted weapons gain a bonus to attack rolls and smelted armor gains a bonus to Armor Class as shown on the table below. This is considered a smelting bonus.

UPGRADE LEVEL	BONUS GRANTED	CRAFT DC	ADDITIONAL COST
Masterwork	+1	26	666 ingots
Improved	+2	28	2,666 ingots
Superior	+3	30	6,000 ingots
Legendary	+4	32	10,666 ingots
Flawless	+5	34	16,666 ingots

Special: Only weapons and armor made with ingots can be improved by smelting. The ingot type used in the smelting process need not be the same as the original ingot type used in the item creation. If two ingot types are used, the newly formed metal will have the properties of both of the respective metals used.

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